Sustainable Travel… Is it possible to be both environmentally responsible and a world traveler? Would it be better if we all just stayed home to reduce the carbon emissions from travel? Actually, no. Tourism is one of the most significant incentives towards preserving the natural and cultural treasures of the world. Our challenge comes in finding a way to travel while also protecting the environment and culture for future generations. This is the balance that sustainable and responsible travel addresses. Read more for examples of responsible travel and suggestions on how you can travel in an eco-friendly way,
I love travel and I love nature, so I’ve always tried to travel ‘green’. But a few years ago I learned what responsible travel really is. While staying at an eco-resort, I looked for gifts to bring home. The shop’s manager kept suggesting baskets made by the local people, but I chose bracelets (easier to pack). I remember her displeasure but didn’t really understand until we were leaving the country and saw these same bracelets in every shop in the airport. Those bracelets were imported just for the tourists. My purchase hadn’t supported the local community at all. How was this wildlife reserve to be sustained if the community didn’t profit from tourism?
Travel will always have an impact on a destination.
Whether the impact is benefit or harm depends on how we travel. Tourism can damage a fragile ecosystem, exploit local communities, and lead to cultural dilution, OR it can bring money to an area, improving the standard of living, and ensuring natural and cultural treasures are protected.
Examples of sustainable tourism show promise in many countries around the world. In these countries, the tourist industry has committed to high standards of environmental development, education, and coordination with the local communities. And the results have been remarkable. Since Costa Rica began its sustainable development programs, unemployment has fallen below 10%, and the quality of life in the country has risen to among the best in the world.
Leave nothing but footprints – Chief Seattle
What is Sustainable Tourism?
‘Official’ definitions of Sustainable Travel:
- The World Commission on Environment and Development defines sustainable travel as “meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs,”
- The World Tourism Organization defines it as the “management of all resources in such a way that economic, social, and aesthetic needs can be fulfilled while maintaining cultural integrity, essential ecological processes, biological diversity, and life support systems.”
What is sustainable tourism in simple words?
Sustainability occurs when three factors – Social justice, Environmental protection, and Economic viability – are in balance. These factors are often called the three pillars of sustainability.
For our purposes, sustainable tourism can be defined as travel that is a positive experience for both the tourist and the local economy. Why is sustainable travel important? Sustainable tourism protects the natural environments and the cultural heritage, addresses climate change, minimizes plastics and waste, AND expands economic development in the area communities.
What is ecotourism? Is sustainable travel the same as ecotourism?
The term eco-tourism was coined in the 1970s and is loosely defined as responsible travel in natural areas. Thus, eco travel is a type of sustainable travel, focused on nature. Promoting responsible eco travel in natural areas, e.g., safaris in Africa, or trekking in National Parks, is the most effective way to ensure that these natural areas, and the wildlife living there, will survive.
Not all lodging, tours, or experiences, labeled “eco” are in fact sustainable. Check credentials and practices before booking to avoid your visit having negative impacts.
Getting the Tourist to Travel Sustainably
Study after study show that the vast majority of people want to be more responsible in their travel. They are aware of the damage over-tourism can do, and the carbon costs of travel. They want to make travel greener, but ultimately are challenged to do it.
In a Booking.com survey people’s biggest concern about traveling green was the perceived cost. 42% of the respondents indicated that added expenses was keeping them from traveling sustainably.
Second to this was a lack of knowledge of sustainable tourism practices. Nearly a third of respondents want to travel greener but don’t know how.
Let’s take advantage of people’s willingness to travel well, and share ideas on how easy, and inexpensive, sustainable travel options can be! Learning to travel responsibly is just the beginning. Once we’ve made changes to our journeys, we need to share the experience with others. Help them to see that it’s easy and rewarding to travel in an environmentally friendly way.
Easy Eco-Friendly Travel Tips
Do Your Little Bit of Good – Rev. Desmond Tutu
It can be overwhelming to look at the challenges of our world and try to figure out how we can address them. We can’t ‘fix’ things ourselves, but if we work on our own ‘little bit of good’, together we will make a positive impact. This wisdom from Rev. Tutu is as relevant to traveling as to everything else.
Start where you are. Make a small change in your travel style today, and, when you’re ready or can afford it, make a bigger change later. Every step towards being a sustainable traveler helps.
Here are our sustainable travel tips, beginning with the easy, inexpensive, and often FREE (🐸) things you can do:
Sustainable Travel Tips: Baby Steps
Eliminate/reduce single-use plastics
- carry a reusable water bottle.
- avoid plastic bags by bringing your own shopping sack from home. 🐸
- remove packaging from products (& recycle) before leaving home. (Some locations don’t have resources for recycling.) 🐸
- fill reusable containers with your preferred shampoo/conditioner from home. 🐸
- say no to plastic straws and plastic bottles🐸
Bigger Steps: purchase (or assemble) a packable cutlery set. pack some reusable straws, eliminate items that contain microplastics from your travel AND home cleansing routine.
Save water with small changes
- take shorter showers 🐸
- turn off water when brushing teeth, or shaving 🐸
- reuse bath towels and linens (put the Do Not Disturb sign on hotel doors)🐸
Conserve electricity
- turn off lights when you leave a room. 🐸
- raise (or lower) thermostat when possible. 🐸
Pack light
- every pound of luggage adds to your airlines fuel expenditure and airplane emissions. National Geographic breaks down the cost of everything you carry on a flight here: The Hidden Costs of Flying
- Bigger Step: as items in your wardrobe and gear wear out, replace them with travel-friendly options. Clothing that is light weight and odor resistant will reduce the weight of your luggage and the necessity or doing laundry
Research potential activities
- A side product of mass tourism is the proliferation of tourist attractions – factory tours that are really selling opportunities, unethical wildlife interactions, etc. These activities are not representative of the area’s authentic culture and are often damaging to the environment.
- respect the local cultures and traditions- look for authentic opportunities to interact with locals. Dress respectfully – we’re guests in their home.
- avoid unethical wildlife experiences– enjoy the area or observe wildlife at a respectful distance. Wildlife lovers, look for ethical experiences to enjoy, such as visiting the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust in Kenya, where orphaned elephants are raised before being reintroduced to the wild.
Support LOCAL
- Support local businesses at your destination to ensure tourism funds remain in the local community, rather than leak to outside economies.
- consult and hire local guides – check online for recommendations on local tour operators. We found a guide for a bird watching tour in Portugal by consulting a Lisbon birding club online.
- buy from regional artisans rather than hitting the tourist kiosks where the majority of items are imported.
- Eat local food
- Be aware of the food resources in the area you’re visiting and eat as the locals do. Importing food to suit a western diet is expensive and unsustainable. Visiting Argentina? have a steak! Visiting Bermuda? skip the steak and have seafood instead. Making conscientious choices to eat what is local and available is one of the best ways to travel green AND eat great food.
For help finding eco-sustainable travel products consult our gift guides, Eco-Friendly Gifts for Travelers and Stocking Stuffers for Travelers.
Sustainable Travel Tips: Big Steps
For a step-by-step guide to planning a responsible trip (and our case study); read How to Put Together a Sustainable Travel Plan
Deciding on your destination
- avoid over-tourism spots, and areas where human rights are threatened. over-tourism puts a huge strain on the resources of an area, raises prices for locals, and, sadly is often destroying that which brings travelers to the area.
- choose slow travel. Traveling slow means you stay in one destination for a long time. This is a great way to really learn about a country and its people, and it’s much more eco friendly as you’re not continuously moving and changing lodgings.
- travel in the off-season if you are heading someplace suffering from over-tourism. Added bonus- this ensures income for local communities during what may be their lean times.
- travel is an opportunity to ‘vote’ with your wallet. If you have reservations about a country’s policies or human rights issues, don’t go.
Choosing your lodging
- skip the all-inclusive resorts. Staying (and paying) for the all-inclusive aspect of these resorts discourages the traveler from patronizing local restaurants and shops. There is also a significant amount of food waste at these resorts.
- when possible, stay at a locally owned hotel, rather than and international chain hotel, to bring economic benefits to the area. (Avoid tourism leakage)
- investigate whether your lodging choice employs local people.
- many hotels and lodges are committed to green practices, have signed the UNESCO Sustainable Travel Pledge, and certification programs acknowledge this. Check their website, and user reviews, before booking. Beware of greenwashing, where a business spends more on marketing their green practices than actually putting them into action.
- book through a website like bookdifferent.com which monitors hotels for sustainable practices
Beware of greenwashing, where a business spends more on marketing their ‘green’ practices than actually putting them into action.
Choosing your transportation option
- use MAPS as a mnemonic for sustainable transportation.
- M- minimize – can you reduce the distance? can you combine trips to save repeat journeys? Or in the case of air travel, can you take a direct flight?
- A – active – can you reach your destination, or explore at your destination on foot or bicycle? 🐸
- P- public – can you take public transportation to, or around, your destination? Trains are the most sustainable form of long distance travel.
- S- share a ride. Not usually possible on a trip, so I’d change S to sustainable vehicle. Check to see if there are sustainable options like electric or hybrid cars if you’re renting a vehicle away from home.
Cruising – Do or Don’t?
- Cruise ships are a Sustainable Travel challenge. They are destination, transportation, and lodging all in one, and can create enormous negative environmental impacts to the areas they traverse. But many people love to cruise, and others have accessibility challenges that make cruising the best option for them.
- Research cruise lines carefully before booking. Some small ship lines have invested in more efficient engineering and have adopted environmentally friendly practices to lessen the negative impact of their cruises.
- Add days to the beginning and or end of your cruise to support, and enjoy, the country.
- Patronize local restaurants and artisan shops on shore days.
- Consider booking a shore tour directly through a local agency. We’ve done this many times when we’ve traveled with friends (shared the expense). Added bonus is you can organize the tour to your interests and avoid the tourist traps. See our posts on Dubrovnik and Rhodes.
🐸 – free (or almost free!)
Offset some of your travel by reducing your carbon footprint at home.
Sustainable Travel Examples – the good news
Several countries have made strong commitments to developing responsible tourism. Here are just a few responsible travel examples that illustrate areas of success:
- The Republic of Palau requires that visitors sign a pledge promising to respect and protect the island’s environment and culture. This pledge, signed on arrival, is addressed to the children of Palau.
- Sweden ranks #1 for sustainability by Euromonitor. Its programs for renewable energy and water sources are very successful.
- Slovenia has won many sustainability awards and was rated the best place for green travel in 2019. Ljubljana won a sustainable tourism award as part of the selection for the 2019 European Capital of Smart Tourism. We visited Slovenia several years ago and were impressed by how completely litter free it is!
- Costa Rica’s certification of sustainability process is being adopted around the world. Additionally, Costa Rica leads much of the world in reforestation.
- The United Republic of Tanzania has dedicated 38% of its land to conservation.
Regenerative Travel – the sustainable future of travel?
Care of the Earth is our most ancient and most worthy, and after all, our most pleasing responsibility – Wendell Berry
With all of us doing our part to travel in a responsible way, the tourism industry can begin to generate regenerative travel – travel that actually improves an area for nature and the local population. We have an opportunity to make our favorite places in the world even better for future generations.
Additional Information on Sustainable Travel – definitions, and challenges
Mass Tourism
Mass tourism is a somewhat negative term for affordable group travel. This includes inexpensive group tours, cruising, etc., anything that has opened the door of travel to most people. Before the onset of mass tourism, travel was a luxury of the wealthy. The grand tour was a fixture in ‘upper-class’ families, a coming-of-age adventure for (primarily) young men. But when companies like Thomas Cook began offering reasonably priced group tours, the world became accessible to ‘regular’ people. To my mind, this is a good thing, but it is not without its negative effects.
- on many mass tourism trips, the revenue stays with the operator. Travelers don’t stay at locally owned hotels, or frequent local restaurants. If you choose to cruise, or book a group tour, have a meal or two at a local restaurant. You’ll have a more authentic experience and give back to the host communities.
Over-tourism
Over-tourism happens when popular destinations gets more tourists than they can accommodate sustainably. The experience is detrimental to the tourist and the destination. The tourist can’t enjoy the view of St. Mark’s Basilica in Venice with a hundred selfie-sticks in the way. And the people of Venice can’t go about their regular life with so many people jamming their pathways, and local shops turned into tourist traps. In fact, over-tourism often leads to the locals being displaced from their communities due to rising costs of rent, essentials, and utilities.
- over-tourism often centers the traveler on the big attractions while missing the genuine city they’re visiting. For example, visitors to NYC crowd Times Square and miss the fascinating neighborhoods of the city. They come away feeling that NYC was just tall buildings and neon lights, rather than a living city.
Tourism leakage
Tourism leakage is when the money generated by tourism actually leaves the country, with little benefit to the local communities. The infrastructure of tourism – roads, airports, etc. – are maintained by the local economy which in some cases may only get 10-20% of the tourism revenue. For more information read What Is Economic Tourism Leakage? How to Prevent Its Negative Impact
Irresponsible tourism
Irresponsible tourism can happen anywhere but is on the rise with over-tourism. When travelers seeking the perfect Instagram shot climb on a historic fountain, or stray off the trail in a National Park, the fountain or the environment can be damaged. Likewise, when travelers leave trash or graffiti behind, the sought over destination is spoiled for the next visitor.
- Unintended irresponsible tourism happens when travelers take risks which can end up requiring their rescue. Check the weather before heading into the mountains, keep a respectful distance from wildlife, follow the guidance of rangers, etc.
It’s gratifying that many destinations, and businesses, have committed to sustainability, but it is essential that we, as tourists, do our part by being responsible travelers. By making simple changes in how we plan our trips, what we pack, and how we engage with the local communities, we can have a huge impact in protecting what we love.
Please share your eco-friendly travel tips in the comments. But also share with your friends and family. Spread the word on how easy and rewarding it can be to travel sustainably.
An overview of sustainable travel. Thank you 😊🌍
This is such a great guide! I’ve been trying to focus on sustainable travel by staying in eco lodges, taking sustainable modes of transportation and eating from small local farmers. I love all of the recommendations you include for both small and big steps!
Eating locally sourced food is such a huge benefit to the community. Thanks!
Love these tips! I definitely need to start doing more research on the green practices of the the places I’m staying at
This is such an interesting read. As someone who travels frequently I try to do my best to reduce the impact I have, but it certainly isn’t always easy. I love the idea of regenerative travel and this is something I’ll definitely look into more. Thank you for providing such a useful resource.
It really can be a challenge.
Thank you so much for this post. It’s so important that we travel sustainably and responsibly. I loved learning about what destinations are doing for sustainability. I had no idea that Sweden and Tanzania are doing so much to do good for the planet. Thank you again!
It’s wonderful to see countries stepping up like this, isn’t it!
I’ve recently been trying to travel in a more sustainable way, so I really enjoyed reading your post! Thanks for sharing all these tips!
Great tips, and love that you graded them from easy, beginner steps to upgrades – it does reflect that change is not an overnight process.
On all-inclusive resorts, I rarely choose them because indeed, you never get out of them once you’re in! But one context when I would be on board, is if I’m going to a place that’s remote, such that the lodge or resort has to plan to supply you in advance, and where keeping you mostly contained in the resort is a good thing for the environment (for example, in a protected habitat).
Definitely! Most ‘Eco-lodges’ are contained as you’re in a remote location. I guess When I hear “all inclusive” I’m thinking beachy all-you-can-eat resorts…
An in-depth post supplying great information. I have also been to Ljubljana and noticed its “green credentials”. I try to find hotels and lodges that take sustainability seriously. One I recently stayed in had done away with individual shampoos etc and converted to refillable containers. A small step but a good one to reduce plastic waste.
All these little steps are great. Though recently I was frustrated in getting paper straws at a restaurant where everything else was swallowed by plastic.
Great guide! Whenever I read any posts on sustainable tourism I pick up more that I could do & this is one of the better posts I’ve read. I particularly like your comment at the start about tourism being essential for the sustainability of culture & historic monuments. So much to consider, thanks for sharing.
Thanks Sue!
I loved this thoughtful and well researched post. I particularly loved how you laid it out in attainable goals for travelers. thanks.
Thank you for a great guide! As someone who is disabled, I wish there were more easy ways to combine eco tourism with accessible travel. I focus on what I can, but it would be nice if the two were easier to combine.
Hi Kristin, yes that is definitely a challenge. I know the U.S. National Parks are making an effort but most ecotourism destinations are not accessible.
There can never be enough said about sustainable travel. It is such an important topic and we have such a great chance to make an impact here. Lovely post, very comprehensive!
This is a thorough and super helpful post for understanding a complex issue – balancing the benefits of travel with the concerns of over-tourism and destruction of natural resources. I learned many new things from reading this: greenwashing was a new term for me.
Thank you for so much information it is fantastic… as we travel more…I am mindful of all the things mentioned here and moving us to travel more sustainably… thank you for your help
These are all such great sustainable travel tips! I always try to support locals when I travel and bring reusable toiletries with me.